COPENHAGEN
Copenhagen is having a moment. In 2026 it’s a buzzy/trendy location. The city has been named the best city in the world. There’s a culinary aspect that receives a lot of deserved attention. Due to high costs and global warming induced heat waves travelers are electing to visit Denmark instead of the Mediterranean. With everything going on in the world, Copenhagen appears to offer a calming environment.

​We weren’t the only ones traveling to Copenhagen. I thought that at least half the population was either tourists, expats, or foreign exchange students. There’s also a notably immigrant population. This all makes sense. Copenhagen “feels” cosmopolitan. The buzz/trendiness is going to attract a ton of outsiders and their presence can be overwhelming when you visit the “Instagrammy” places like Juno and St. Peter’s bakery. Do locals even go to these places? Prolog Coffee shop had a line out the door. I waited twenty minutes (after ordering) for a cappuccino at Coffee Collective. I know that in Denmark you are supposed to take things slow but I thought that meant lingering in the coffee shop not waiting for my order. There’s a lot of that. Copenhagen is a small city from a population, geographical area, and a cultural/sites perspective. Every visitor is going to the same places. It isn’t until day four or five that one would venture further afield from the city center.
When I say that this was the perfect trip, I mean from the time we arrived forty-five minutes early until the time we hit immigration at Newark, this trip was flawless. We breezed through immigration, hopped on the metro, and reached our hotel at 8 am. We stayed at the Scandic Nørreport, centrally located at the top of Købmagergade, one of Copenhagen's walking streets, and literally about the Nørreport metro and train stations, which are also a bus hub. We out our bags in storage and started walking to Nyhavn. The streets were quiet at 8am on a Friday - the rare time that no one was around the Stork Fountain. 
We made our way to Nyhavn and took the obligatory photos. We joined a 10:30 boat tour of Copenhagen’s canals. The boat was a third filled. We went passed the Opera House. Saw the backside of the Little Mermaid. Christianhavn is a cool neighborhood. Biked through here the next day. Would have spent more time here if not for having Charlotte in tow. When we returned to Nyhavn, the area was suffocating from tourists.
 We went to Amalienborg with the intention of watching the changing of the guards at noon - everyone else had the same idea. It’s difficult to explain to Charlotte why we are waiting in a square for thirty minutes - she was getting restless. We settled for a photo with a guard
We took the metro to Gammel Strand and checked out the Happiness Museum. The Museum outlines why certain people and cultures are happier than others but we didn’t leave with any actionable items. A Museum display noted that Portuguese parents are the happiest because Portuguese grandparents are actively involved in the lives of their grandchildren. That checks out. Charlotte loved this museum - I was the one nudging us to go. The Museum has a room where visitors write what makes them happy on a Post-It note then place the note on the wall. For Charlotte, it was cupcakes and cookies. She placed that and another ten Post-Its on the wall. 
Shopping along Stroget. Royal Copenhagen. Mads Norgaard. A toy store. And our first Lego store. Charlotte passed out during lunch - fortunately our hotel was less than ten minutes away and we reached the check in time.
Charlotte woke up as soon as I laid her down on the bed. I couldn’t believe it. I thought we could both enjoy a three hour nap before dinner but she was ready to go. We crossed the street to Torvehallerne​, a posh version of Reading Terminal Market. Charlotte wrote in her new notepad while I waited twenty minutes for a coffee. We sat outside Israel Plads, which I mistakenly thought had a kid’s playground. 
Charlotte wanted to run around at a playground so we took the metro to Nørrebro and Den Rode Plads - The Red Square if you couldn't figure that out from the photos.
We walked about a hundred yards to Supekilen, another playground. We were here for over an hour. Played a few games of tag. Charlotte let everyone know her name and that she likes cupcakes and cookies. Pizza dinner. Back to the hotel. Built a Little Mermaid (the movie not the statue) Lego set. 
Cycling Day! We rented a “cargo” bike which had a front seat area that could accommodate two children. Charlotte was exhausted and not feeling well - not sure how much she enjoyed the bike ride. I loved the bike ride. We blitzed a couple of great attractions that were not otherwise easily accessible by metro - much better to bike than walk. I had been studying the biking “rules” since we arrived - basically bikes have their own lanes and follow the same traffic lights as cars, except for when making a left hand turn, in which case you stop on the right then cross with pedestrians. Simple enough.
 First stop was Copenhagen’s Black Diamond Library. 
Then the first of two harbor pools. Not much activity in September. Outdoor and water temps were in the low 60s.
Bike snake - a raised bike path. Very cool stretch. Everyone needs to rent a bike when visiting Copenhagen.
Islands Brygge, another harbor pool. I packed our swimsuit and towels and would have swam if Charlotte had been feeling better. There were three other people swimming (or preparing to swim). I would have joined them. There was a game of kayak polo taking place that looked interesting.
Circle Bridge and Christianhavn. Again - you need to rent a bike when you are here.
Stopped for lunch at Broens Food hall. Nothing but tourists. Horrible fish and chips. Charlotte wasn’t feeling well. I knew it was an issue when she didn’t even eat any of my fries. She hadn’t eaten on the plane, had a few eggs at our first breakfast, a little pizza, and was just not looking to well. What’s a dad going to do? Enter McDonald’s. A chicken McNugget Happy Meal. Next up - Build-a-Bear. I loathe these places yet totally worth it in this case - Charlotte was a different person from here on out. If not for Happy Meals, chicken tenders and fries, pizza, and ice cream, this would have been a very difficult trip. As a parent, I did what had to be done. Charlotte was re-energized for our walk up the Round Tower.
We spent that early evening in Norrebro - chicken tenders for dinner. A beer on the lake. Norrebro is ranked as one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world, eh. Back to the hotel.
Let’s go to Juno Bakery in Ostebro for breakfast - said us and a hundred other people. Let’s go to Prolog for coffee. Line of the door. Nice neighborhood otherwise.
To Christiana Free Town, a squatter village of sorts just east of Christianhavn. We took a photo of Green George, a Thomas Dambo troll sculpture. Dambo has about a hundred of these giant troll sculptures around the world - there're even a few in the U.S. that we will need to check out. Green George is probably one of the easiest of his sculptures to access. We saw one more of his sculptures on the way to the airport at the end of our trip.  We did a loop through Christiana then back to the metro.

Thomas Dambo's website: https://www.thomasdambo.com/
We spent the afternoon in Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and Walt Disney’s inspiration to create Disney World. You can feel what inspired Disney.
The rides aren’t just rides - they are whole themes. At the Den Gamle Rutschebane (the old rollercoaster) we had to sit in the front row. When the ride ended, we went right back in line.
The Flying Trunk takes the rider through all of Hans Christian Andersen’s best stories - Disney straight up copied this ride with a few modifications for Disney’s children’s rides. Another inspiration for Disney is that the amusement park is more than the rides. There are shows. There are zones like a Japanese zone - one of Tivoli’s iconic views is from across a pond looking at its Pagoda. There’s the fancy Nimb Hotel. There’re beer gardens and restaurants. I actually think an adult could spend more time here than a child. Charlotte was ready to leave before me.
We had a unique communal dining experience at Folkehuset Absalon. A former church that has been converted into a community center. Nightly they offer a family style meal where diners sit with diners from other parties. It’s billed as a local experience even if it’s unlikely you will be sharing a table with any Danes. We sat with people from Japan and England. After dinner we walked through Vesterbro to Warpigs in the Kodbyen area. it was a Sunday night and a bit dead. I’m glad we didn’t stay in this neighborhood despite the cheaper hotel options. The highlight of this neighborhood was “Robot Charlotte” impersonating animals from cheetahs to turtles to elephants to giraffes to cows.
Copenhagen was decent. I’ve been wanting to visit for two or three years now. Planned for a four or five day trip and focus on the coffee, beer, dining scene. Glad I went to New Orleans last year instead. I thought the hype around Copenhagen didn’t quite match the reality. It’s a nice city. Is it that much different than say Dublin? Which is also a nice city.